Trade Rumors: Yankees not seen as a fit for Shin-Soo Choo

Being that Shin-Soo Choo is a year away from free agency and the Indians are not close to competing this year or next, a lot of people expect that Choo could be dealt this offseason.

If he is it seems unlikely, at least at this point, that the Yankees will be involved as Joel Sherman of the NY Post reports that Indian officials do not see a fit with the Yankees on a possible trade.

A few teams have already called the Indians to ask about Choo and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports said that he expects the Yankees to be among a group of teams that also includes the Pirates, Red Sox, Tigers, and Phillies to be in the mix for his services. The Red Sox have already expressed interest in him, according to Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports.

Choo, just 30-years-old, would be a good fit for the Yankees as a Nick Swisher replacement. He’s only expected to earn $7.9 million in his final year of arbitration and he has hit .289/.381/.465 over parts of eight seasons in the majors. A year away from free agency, Choo would provide the Yankees with the necessary payroll flexibility to reach their goal of getting to $189 million by 2014.

If the Yankees aren’t a good fit they’ll have to turn toward other options. There is no word on exactly what the Indians would want in return for Choo, but if they manage to trade Asdrubal Cabrera this offseason than perhaps they’ll become more interested in a package involving Eduardo Nunez. The Yankees do have pitching they could offer in a deal too — perhaps Ivan Nova, David Phelps or Adam Warren depending on who the other pieces are.